


Recognition

by thesometimeswarrior



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon Compliant, Episode: s06e04 Volleyball, Ficlet, Gem Fusion, Gen, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-09
Updated: 2019-12-09
Packaged: 2021-02-26 05:33:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 430
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21728344
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thesometimeswarrior/pseuds/thesometimeswarrior
Summary: “Is that whatI’vebeen doing?” she asks, eye full of epiphany light and horror and tears. “But she didn’tmeanto!”(Pearl finds herself.)
Relationships: Pearl & Pink Diamond's Original Pearl (Steven Universe), Pearl & Rose Quartz (Steven Universe), Pink Diamond & Pink Diamond's Original Pearl (Steven Universe)
Comments: 23
Kudos: 164





	Recognition

It’s the eyes—well, _eye_ —that gets you, the look in it, combined with the desperation that comes from knowing that this is your last moment as yourself. All the pettiness of the past hours, that unspoken competition that only you cared about that seemed to settle in your Gem when you saw her just seems so _small_ now…

Why did you…? You thought you were _beyond_ all of this, that you’d _grown_ , you’ve grown, after everything you _have_ to have grown, but here you are, still making excuses for Pink…

“Is that what _I’ve_ been doing?” she asks, eye full of epiphany light and horror and tears. “But she didn’t _mean_ to!”

(Your Gemstone lurches, in a way that has nothing to do with the Rejuvenation shockwaves pulsating across your form.) 

It’s true. Pink, Rose, didn’t _mean_ to. She _never_ meant to… And perhaps it wasn’t even her fault, the way that Blue and Yellow and White twisted towers of despair inside her with every scathing word or dismissive sigh. But, regardless of who, precisely, is culpable for the pain, this Pearl was nonetheless hurt, _scarred_. It’s obvious just looking at her, is carved in shattering cracks all across her delicate face. 

And if it’s the last conscious thought she has, she has to know that she can _admit_ that, that it isn’t her fault, isn’t some personal failing on her part, doesn’t mean that she loved Pink any less... 

“But _you_ were hurt!” you tell her, grabbing her, willing her with everything you have left in you to _understand_. “ _Badly_ hurt!”

And she does. “I _was_ badly hurt.” Then, she looks up at you, every inch the young Pearl persona you’d projected onto her in bad faith, and she's desperate… “How did _you_ stop hurting?”

And with this one question, something opens in you that you’ve struggled for millennia to keep locked away, even deeper than Rose’s secrets, something you’ve compartmentalized so much that you hadn’t even _known_ , and you look at her and see, and you understand, you _understand_ …You embrace her, because it’s such a relief, it’s gratitude, and you're the _same_ , and you smile, you _smile_ …

“ _I didn’t_.”

(You were _hurt_. _Badly_ hurt. You _still_ hurt. It wasn’t your fault. It doesn’t mean you loved Rose any less, and it _wasn't your fault_ …) and you _smile_ …

She embraces you back. 

Recognition is a flash of light.

And then she is you and you are her (then again, you—both of you—always have been), and you, all _one_ of you, break through, exhale, stand tall.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed! I love comments!


End file.
